Behind Jared Mayes’ 27 points, the Golden Eagles overwhelmed the No. 1 seed and defending national champion Brookdale (NJ) County Community College 80-59 in the NJCAA Div. III National Tournament semifinal, earning a shot at the Golden Eagles’ first national championship.

RVC will play for the title tonight at 6 against North Carolina Caldwell (29-6).

The first half was tight, with RVC building a 26-20 10 minutes in, and finishing with a 40-33 edge at the break behind Mayes’ 18 poits and L.T. Davis’ 11.

The second half belonged to RVC, and even though. Turner, Ben Grygiel and Davis got into foul trouble, Coach Craig Doty was able to shuffle players in and out, and used his bench extensively during the second half. Keenan Franklin, Desean Miller, Darius Brown, Sam Harrison and Deontray Austin all contributed important minutes.

With a balanced attack, the Golden Eagles pushed the lead to 66-45 with just under three minutes left.

“We were able to overcome the fact that we were in foul trouble because of the bench depth that we have on this team,” Doty said. “Because we played 18 Division I and II colleges in our non-conference schedule, it really prepared us for the type of ball pressure that Brookdale put on us.

“I am so proud of the way the guys executed the game plan tonight. They really played great basketball.”

“We prepared real well for the game tonight,” said Mayes. “We knew we would have to come out shooting and rebounding well, and stay with our game plan, and we did all that, and came out with a W.”